Titanic: To Never Forget
by Falcon88
Summary: 1st of 4 short stories in remembrance of Titanic. Second class passenger Frank Abner witnessing Titanic's collision with the iceberg, struggles to find his family and to save his niece.


Disclaimer: All major characters portrayed in this story are entirely fictional. Any similarities with real Titanic passengers are entirely coincidental. Minor characters may have been real members of the crew.

Author's Note: This story is completely original and does not follow the characters created by James Cameron, though real people may be mentioned. This story and the other three follow fictional characters in a real event. Titanic's sinking was one of the greatest tragedies of all time and these stories are meant for remembrance in honor of the ship and those lost aboard it. I have written these stories with utmost respect, and with great research, including new findings.

Titanic: To Never Forget

A lone man stood by the railing staring out into the night. The weather was cold but he ignored it. The sound of the waves against the hull and the fresh sea breeze felt great, doing wonders for him. He yawned lazily as he considered turning in for the night. The man, 2nds class passenger Francis "Frank" Williams Abner was taking a holiday to America. Accompanying him on this crossing was his sister, Martha Finch, her husband, Roger Finch, and their newborn daughter Mary. Frank checked his pocket watch 11:38 in the evening. He turned to head in when he suddenly felt Titanic begin to turn hard to port. "What?" He muttered to himself. He turned back to the railing and leaned over. A large form had appeared before the ship, looming dangerously off the prow. He watched with bated breath as ever so slowly, the form seemed to move to the right. He knew Titanic was turning, but it was painfully slow. He grabbed onto the railings holding on as tightly as he could. With a loud crashing sound and a metallic groan, Titanic sideswiped the form, an iceberg he could see now, and was momentarily partially raised into the air before settling back into the water. Frank stared at the ice with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape. It was so close, if he reached out a hand, he could probably touch it. He decided to go up on deck to see if he could get a better view.

As Frank reached the top deck he noticed large chunks of ice had fallen onto the well deck. He went to the starboard side and glanced over a railing. To his great annoyance, he couldn't make out how bad the ship had been damaged. Still, they were okay, right? After all, Titanic was unsinkable. Pulling away, Frank considered what to do. He could wait around and see what the crew had to say or he could go back to the cabin. He deiced on the latter as the crew would probably have more to tell in the morning. As Frank descended to D Deck, he became aware of people peering out of their cabins talking in confusion, while others yet ran down the passageway. Arriving at his cabin, Frank had changed his mind about going to sleep. He would instead take Mary, who'd been left sleeping while her parents were out, and go look for Martha and Roger. Becoming aware of crying from inside, Frank fumbled with the lock, before it finally opened and he burst into the room, quickly grabbing his crying niece from her crib. He had the good sense to wrap the child in several layers of blankets and grabbed a life vest for himself, before running out of the room and down the hall, looking for his sister and her husband as he ran.

As Frank all but jogged down the hall, he found himself feeling rather silly. Why had he grabbed the stupid jacket? It was cumbersome and he looked ridiculous. Besides, this ship is unsinkable. He assumed it was just the general feeling of nervousness in the atmosphere as he passed other passengers that as bothering him. He didn't know how long he'd been running around the ship like a headless chicken, but he had yet to find Martha and Roger and he was currently debating pausing to remove and get rid of the lifejacket when a man in uniform, a steward, appeared around a corner.  
"Oi! Where are you goin'?" Asked the steward, with an accent that Frank was too in a hurry to place.

"I'm looking for my sister and her husband! They were going for lunch and a stroll." Frank answered hurriedly. He was impatient to get moving. He had to find his family.

"They're probabl' on deck. We're aban'ning ship." Frank's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath and took of towards the nearest stairway to the boat decks. "And take car of that babe!" The steward shouted after him.

After a quick detour back to the cabin to make sure Martha and Roger hadn't returned, Frank arrived on the boat deck to see that indeed there was a huge crowd of people gathered about and that the lifeboats were being readied. _Why? Isn't Titanic unsinkable?_  
"Martha! Roger!" Frank yelled, over the bustling crowd. He couldn't make out anyone specific in the moving sea of faces. Standing on tip toes, he tried looking over peoples' heads but it was no use. "Come on! Where are they?" He muttered to himself. Finding a clock he grimaced upon seeing the time. _12:40 already?_As he watched the first lifeboat was lowered. Within five minutes a second one was under way again. Feeling his apprehension growing, Frank began to force his way through the crowd, calling out to Martha and Roger, if they were even there in that mess. He made several rounds of the Boat Deck pausing occasionally to scan the inside of lifeboats and on more than one occasion standing on an equipment container to stare over the crowds. As he walked he heard the band began to play a wedding song. Odd choice, but he shrugged it off, as he had more pressing matters. Frank must have circled the deck three times when eventually his agitation became too great and he stopped at around 1:15. He had to get Mary off the ship first and foremost.

Approaching the nearest lifeboat that was being loaded, one on the Port side, he fell into the line. As they got closer to the boat, he was jarred several times as people pressed forward. After nearly falling for the third time in two minutes, Frank rounded on the people behind him, losing his temper.  
"Stop pushing and shoving dammit!" He barked. When he finally reached the boat, the officer in charge frowned at him before noticing Mary.

"Are you her father?" He asked. Frank shook his head.

"I'm her uncle."

"Where are her parents?" Asked the officer, looking him up and down. Frank by now was running out of patience and he could barely think with the passengers behind him were screaming up a storm.

"I have no idea!" Frank yelled over the other passengers. "I've been trying to find my sister and her husband since moments after we hit the iceberg. The officer didn't even blink at his outburst. Instead he asked another question, one that Frank had already answered.

"You're the girl's uncle?" Frank balked. Hadn't he already said that much?

"Yes!" The officer sighed, relenting.

"Alright get in; but if he mother arrives you'll have to give up your seat."

"I'm fine with that as long as she gets off this ship!" Frank said referring to the baby in his arms. He boarded the boat, number 16, and after a while when no more women or child came, it was lowered into the water. The lifeboat was rowed a distance away from Titanic and Frank and his fellow passengers would have horrifying front row seats to watching the greatest maritime tragedy in history unfolding before their eyes as the mighty ship eventually died, taking thousands with her to a watery grave. Frank would later learn that neither his sister nor her husband survived the sinking. Though the sorrow was overwhelming and many times he felt the crushing guilt of having survived while so many perished, those moments when he no longer felt the will to live, he found the resolution to go on for his niece, now his daughter. And he would live, for her and for all his fellow passengers who could no longer. He would live for their memory, to lead it into the future and make sure it was never lost or forgotten.

_ Never forget the fifteen hundred_


End file.
